Expectations and Perspectives About Infant Feeding of Their First Child Among Rural Women.

Objective: To explore expectations and perspectives related to infant feeding of their first child among rural women.
Design: Qualitative descriptive.
Setting: Rural women who were first-time mothers (N = 18).
Methods: We recruited participants from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children clinics and a nurse home-visiting program in a midwestern U.S. state. Using the construct of habitus, we developed an interview guide and used semistructured interviews to explore the expectations and perspectives of participants regarding infant feeding of the first child. We analyzed the transcribed interviews using content analysis techniques to identify overall themes.
Results: We identified four overarching themes and associated subthemes that represented participants' expectations and perspectives: I'm Educated but Not So Much on Breastfeeding, This Is Small Town Culture, I Had Expectations, and This Area Lacks Resources for Mothers.
Conclusion: Overall, participants had high expectations to breastfeed. However, most discontinued breastfeeding soon after giving birth due to a lack of pragmatic knowledge about how to breastfeed, poor understanding of infant nutritional needs in the first few weeks of life, and a nonsupportive habitus.
Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest or relevant financial relationships.
(Copyright © 2024 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)